Guangdong Architect Dies at 60 After Repeated Police Harassment for Her Faith in Falun Gong

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June 3, 2024 | By a Minghui correspondent in Guangdong Province, China

(Minghui.org)

Name: Chen YanpingChinese Name: 陈燕萍Gender: FemaleAge: 60City: GuangzhouProvince: GuangdongOccupation: architectDate of Death: May 23, 2024Date of Most Recent Arrest: N/AMost Recent Place of Detention: N/A

A 60-year-old resident of Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, died on May 23, 2024, after years of being harassed by police for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

Ms. Chen Yanping

Ms. Chen Yanping, owner of an architecture firm, credited Falun Gong for keeping her congenital hepatic cyst (fluid-filled sacs on her liver) well under control. She, however, had a relapse of her condition and developed other symptoms after repeated police harassment for her faith. She never recovered and passed away recently.

Endless Harassment

After the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, the police barred Ms. Chen from traveling abroad, not even allowing her to visit nearby Hong Kong. They maintained close surveillance of Ms. Chen. Several times she was about to board a plane for domestic travels, when the police called her, demanding to know where she was going. In order to avoid further harassment, she often drove long distances (instead of flying) when she had to travel.

The police harassment of Ms. Chen intensified in 2023, after the local Wushan Police Station discovered that she had posted an article written by the founder of Falun Gong on WeChat (a social media platform). The police showed up at her home and checked her cell phone and WeChat posting against her will. They interrogated her at her home and confiscated a portrait of Falun Gong’s founder and artworks bearing Falun Gong messages.

One day in late November 2023, the police knocked on Ms. Chen’s door. When no one answered, they knocked on her neighbor’s door and asked if she was home and who she lived with. A bit past 8 p.m. that night, Ms. Chen went outside her apartment building to fetch something from her car. She ran into four police officers on her way to the garage. They didn’t realize that she was Ms. Chen right away, but she knew they were coming for her. Instead of returning to her apartment, she drove away immediately. She did not have her phone with her nor did she have any money. She managed to find a temporary place to settle down and lived away from home for a while to avoid being arrested.

Starting in February 2024, Ms. Chen began to experience difficulty walking, with swelling in her feet. The swelling gradually spread to her legs. Her weight shot up and her waist got bigger. The increased abdominal weight compressed the veins in her lower legs and obstructed the flow of venous blood, which worsened her leg edema. In the meantime, her belly pushed up against her diaphragm and then her heart, which began to beat violently. Her stomach was also squeezed, and she lost her appetite.

Despite eating very little, Ms. Chen gained almost 70 pounds in three months. She felt uncomfortable no matter what position she was in, be it standing, sitting, or lying down.

While she was suffering from a relapse of her liver cyst, the Wushan Police Station kept monitoring Ms. Chen. She Facetimed someone and two officers soon showed up on April 4, 2024. They ordered her to stop using Facetime and forcibly deleted the app from her phone.

Ms. Chen was later hospitalized. She said to her family and medical workers many times that had she not been forced to live away from home in November 2023, her health would not have declined so quickly. Despite her suffering, she remained calm and cheerful. She even gave her nurses a flower basket and a fruit basket on May 12, Nurses Day. It was unclear whether she died in the hospital or at home on May 23.

A Busy Professional Who Still Had Time for Her Child

After Ms. Chen took up Falun Gong in May 1997, she was able to keep her liver cyst under control. She also had more energy to take care of family matters on top of running her own architecture firm.

Architects in China are known as busy professionals who have no time for their families. Ms. Chen, a licensed senior architect, also had to work overtime on numerous occasions. As the company owner, she needed to sign off on everything. At times, she felt tremendous pressure at work. Falun Gong, however, helped her remain calm and organized.

When she was preparing for her architect license exams, her child was still young and required a lot of her attention. She was ever so patient and drew pictures and engaged in other activities to entertain her child.

On July 30, 2008, the Wushan Police Station officers raided Ms. Chen’s home. When they learned that her child was attending the Affiliated High School of South China Normal University, a well-respected top-notch high school, they immediately expressed their admiration for Ms. Chen and asked what she did to help her child get into such a prestigious high school. She replied that she always followed Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to educate her child.

An Extremely Generous Daughter and Daughter-in-law

Ms. Chen’s mother-in-law was a highly respected elementary school teacher. As such, the older woman was headstrong and dominant. Ms. Chen was able to get along with her by following Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She invited her mother-in-law to live with her family after she moved into a new home in 2010 and gave her the best room. When Ms. Chen found out later that the location was not too convenient, she bought another apartment in a better location for her mother-in-law to live. Her mother-in-law was deeply moved and often told others that Ms. Chen was the best daughter-in-law in the world.

Ms. Chen’s parents lived in an apartment with no elevator. She later bought them a new apartment with elevators in the building to make their life easier.